MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State opens practice on Wednesday, and the season can’t get started soon enough for head coach Mike Neu and the Cardinals. They obviously would like to get rid of the taste of last season’s 2-10 record as quickly as possible.

Here are eight questions to get you ready for the Ball State football season:

1. What are expectations for Ball State this season?

The expectation is that Ball State will be better this season, because there is nowhere to go but up from a 2-10 record in 2017. There is a strong case to be made that the Cardinals were the worst FBS team over the last nine games last season as they lost all nine and were outscored by an average of 33.9 points per game. That said, a large part of that had to do with Ball State being crippled by injuries on offense, most notably playing those last nine games without arguably their top two players (quarterback Riley Neal and running back James Gilbert). The Cardinals opened the season 2-1 and easily could have been 3-0 if not for a blown lead at Illinois. The most optimistic fan would project 6-8 wins; the most pessimistic fan would project 2-3 wins. The reality will probably be somewhere in between.

2. What are the top storylines heading into the 2018 season?

This is head coach Mike Neu’s third season, and his program needs to show significant improvement or he may be on the hot seat. The Cardinals are 6-18 under Neu, including 1-15 in the Mid-American Conference. Ball State has a second-year president and a new athletic director, and if this season goes like last season – where Ball State is not only losing but losing big – it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Neu Era come to an end. But Neu is well-liked and most, like former athletic director Mark Sandy, excused last year due to nearly every offensive starter missing a chunk of last season. The only silver lining to having so many injuries was that a 2017 recruiting class ranked near the top of the MAC, headlined by wide receiver Justin Hall and running back Caleb Huntley, got extensive playing time and performed well. That is something to build on heading into 2018.

Ball State is loaded at running back. Caleb Huntley ran for 1,003 yards as a true freshman this past season, and Malik Dunner is a big-play threat and ran for eight touchdowns last season. This season you add in James Gilbert, who missed the last nine games of 2017 and was granted a redshirt season. The redshirt junior ran for 1,332 as a sophomore. Neu has said that he doesn’t just want to get two of the three backs on the field at the same time, but all three, with Dunner lining up in the slot. Before Ball State, Neu was the quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints, and he has said he would like to get the running backs involved in the passing game like the Saints do.

4. What is the position of greatest concern heading into the season?

Take your pick in the defensive backfield. It’s been an area of concern the last few years, particularly with giving up big plays. How much of that is due to being weak at other positions and leaving the backs vulnerable is up for interpretation, but as a whole, there’s no arguing that the defense has been subpar. Bryce Cosby started all 12 games at safety as a true freshman, so that is something to build on. Seniors Josh Miller and Marc Walton are the projected starters at corner and have experience with a combined 35 career starts, though the duo has combined for five interceptions. Ball State had only six interceptions last season, and a defensive as leaky as the Cardinals needs to force more turnovers.

5. How big is it to get Riley Neal and James Gilbert back on offense?

It’s critical. Both are respected in the locker room and mentally I’m sure it hurt not having those guys practicing the last nine weeks of the season. We saw last season how vital Neal is. While the 6-foot-6, 225-pound Neal still hasn’t had his breakout season yet, he is already fifth in career passing yards in program history with two seasons still to play. Many are hoping he makes the leap to All-MAC quarterback, but even if he doesn’t, he is still a significant upgrade from what we saw last season, when Ball State started four quarterbacks and went three straight games without scoring a touchdown.

6. With Neal and Gilbert back and the return of four starting offensive linemen and two starting wide receivers, will the Ball State offense be good enough to overcome the defensive woes?

It would be hard for any offense to overcome a defense allowing 40 points per game. That said, Ball State should expect to be in the top half of the MAC in terms of points per game and break 30 most weeks. There are plenty of weapons in addition to those three running backs. Hall was a Freshman All-American and would probably be at a Power Five program if he wasn’t 5-9. Nebraska wide receiver transfer Keyan Williams will help. Wide receiver Khalil Newton flashed big-play potential as a true freshman, and Corey Lacanaria is a solid slot receiver if he can stay healthy. An interesting twist is that Neu will take over play-calling, a duty handled by offensive coordinator Joey Lynch the last two seasons. A common complaint among fans is that the offense features too few vertical shots, so it will be interesting to see if Ball State tries to stretch the field more to keep defenses honest and open up some space for Hall underneath.

7. Ball State struggled on defense last season and returns only five starters. Any hope that the unit improves this season? What were the reasons for the 2017 struggles on that side of the ball?

The staff is optimistic that switching to a 3-4 will help. Neu encouraged first-year defensive coordinator David Elson to stick with the 4-3 last season because Ball State had four senior defensive linemen who fit best with that scheme. Neu thinks it will be much easier to recruit for the 3-4 as it allows them to get more athletes on the field. I’m skeptical until I see some sort of improvement. Forcing more turnovers is one place to start; Ball State had just 12 takeaways last season, while opposing defenses had 22 against the Cardinals. Junior college transfer Ray Wilborn is one to watch at outside linebacker, as the staff is really high on him.

8. What does Ball State have to do to get back to the level it was during Lembo’s first three years, when it went 25-13?

For one, stay healthy. Every football team should expect some injuries, but it was hard to fault Ball State too much with the amount of players sidelined each week. If Ball State can stay reasonably healthy, the next biggest factor is Neal. Can he make that leap from good to great? The Pete Lembo teams had quarterback Keith Wenning, who is still bouncing around NFL practice squads, and Willie Snead, who has found a niche in the NFL as a No. 3 receiver. That’s a lot to live up to. Lastly, the defense needs to find a way to keep the Cardinals in games. For all the experience this young group gained last season, it is concerning that they never really played in a competitive MAC game. Can they win some close ones when given the chance? We don’t know yet, but let’s hope we find out this season.

Ryan O’Gara is a sports features writer at the Star Press. Contact him at (765) 213-5829, rogara@muncie.gannett.com or @RyanOGara.